Friday, June 30, 2017

“You will be seeing the latest
generation,” he continued as he led the military representatives into the
central lab of the family compound.

The monitor bracelet on Kerin’s wrist
buzzed twice, in the simple code used when unwanted visitors showed up without
warning and their scientist family had no time to check on the status of the
various projects before dealing with them. She tapped the tiny screen on the
bracelet twice, pause, twice more, signaling that all was well. The bio-crystal
hadn’t produced any new strange outgrowths or let off any new frequencies
suspiciously like brainwaves. That was the goal after another ten generations
of growing, programming, and tinkering: mimicry of Human brain activity, so
crystal would augment the body’s natural healing ability and bridge the gap
where there was nerve damage, to give movement and feeling back to the
paralyzed, hearing and sight to the deaf and blind.

She looked upward, in time to see
her father step onto the edge of the clearsteel dome over the pit of the growth
lab. What were her chances the visitors would content themselves with staying
on the observation level today? Dr. Nicorazon’s voice came through the speakers
as he rested his hands protectively on the clear shell that provided the growth
lab’s outer defenses.

“The scanners must clear all of us
for entrance.” He smiled and gestured at the spectrum camera directly below
him. Behind him, the lights dimmed and took on a faint bluish cast. Kerin went
back to her work, satisfied that the lab’s defenses hadn’t been overridden by
the military, and the sensors were checking for spying mechanisms, bacterial
intrusion, and weapons. “The crystal is presently in the fourth stage,” her
father continued, the changing location of his voice indicating he was walking
around the dome toward the short flight of stairs down to the growth lab, “transferring
to the fifth stage of growth and testing. Thus far, our readings are well
beyond our expectations.”

“What happens in the fourth stage?”
Colonel Areyzi asked.

Kerin
flinched at the sound of his voice, and looked up to the monitors. His gaze
roved, focusing everywhere and on everything in the room, except for the face
of the man he spoke to. That was typical. Colonel Areyzi trusted no one, and
scientists least of all. Kerin wanted sometimes to shake him and shout in his
face until he listened -- just because the Nicorazon-Leto family were
scientists studying the Human body did not mean they supported the extremists
who had begun to make themselves heard, advocating total control -- legislated
and mandatory -- over the definition of what made someone Human, what gave them
value. Bad enough that for the last two generations the government of the
Central Allied Worlds required citizens to earn the right to reproduce, either
through the contributions they made to society or their genetic perfection and
inborn gifts. Her parents had brought her and her brothers up to believe in
making full use of all the variations in the Human genetic spectrum, not
culling and pruning and taking authority out of Fi’in’s hands, to decide what
was truly Human and what should and could be destroyed.

Thursday, June 29, 2017

Kerin watched the visitors coming
down the long hallway by way of the monitor strips in the ceiling. Not that she
paid much attention with all the work she had to do in the growth lab today,
but enough to feel annoyance at the intrusion of the military into her family’s
sanctuary. Why did they have to arrive now, when the bio-crystal had started
showing signs of reacting beyond her father’s hopes or projections? Maybe there
were spies, despite her brothers’ best anti-spy ‘bot devices. Maybe, just like
the rumors said, the authorities would confiscate every new development once
crucial progress had been made, and hand them off to more loyal -- meaning more
easily controlled and intimidated -- researchers?

“They’re perfectly balanced between
organic and mineral, neutrally charged and programmable to adapt to any tissue
needs. The more advanced we become in our control of the growth process, the
more delicately we can guide the uses of these crystals.” Pride filled Dr.
Nicorazon’s voice as he lectured on his brainchild.

He
gave the same lecture every quar when the military or other government
representatives showed up. He gave the lecture whether the various officer and
officials had returned, or there was someone new. There was no guarantee anyone
would bother to remember what they had been taught the last time they intruded
on the Nicorazon-Leto family’s research, and every chance that someone would
use the slightest change as justification for cancelling their funding, their
research licenses, confiscate all their work, and other major and minor
punishments.

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Riddle me this: When can someone who is being a really good friend, looking out for your best interests, also be someone you just want to reach through the computer screen and give them the Loki Treatment?

When your book is being EDITED, and your editor is doing the exact same thing to you that you do to other people when you're editing -- but DANG it hurts, and frustrates to no end!

** For those who are living under a rock or don't have the mental stamina to watch Marvel Comics movies, the Loki Treatment is what the Hulk did to Loki in the first Avengers movie, where Loki is raging because he is a god and the Hulk is a dull creature and doesn't have the sense not to stand against him. And then the Hulk grabs Loki by his ankles and basically slams him against the floor half a dozen times like a rag doll. Yeah. That's it exactly. You know what I'm talking about, and if you're a published author with a really good editor, you know exactly how I feel about now.

Right now I'm working on edit checks for "Growing Up Neighborlee: Book 2." The further adventures of Lanie Zephyr.

If you haven't visited there yet -- why not? It's a weird little town in Northeast Ohio. Kind of a combination of Roswell, Eureka, and Buffy's Sunnyvale. But without the vampires or the weird science. Although there's kind of a toned-down equivalent of the Hellmouth .....

Want to check out the other Neighborlee titles, and have some fun with interdimensional visitors and Fae and magic and just silly, sometimes funny, sometimes frightening stuff going on? You can go to my website or visit Uncial Press and check out the titles.

Or if you have a taste for superheroes, check out the Crossover Alliance's latest anthology, featuring Lanie Zephyr and other assorted superheroes going through their trials and tribulations and duties, saving the world while trying to keep their masks on -- or not, if they aren't lucky enough to have a costume. Guaranteed fun!

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Go far back in Commonwealth history, before the Downfall of First Civ, when the galaxy-spanning civilization called itself the Central Allied Worlds.

Three novellas in one volume explore the birth of the Khybors, whose descendants will impact the Downfall, the rebirth of civilization, the return to the stars, and the Commonwealth far into the future.

Kerin survived a brutal lab accident and discovered the benefits and dangers of

khrystal, which fused with her genetics and made her the first Khybor.

Her twins should never have been born, and broke new ground in understanding khrystal.

Her great-great-granddaughter led the way in battling for the survival of the new race.

Monday, June 26, 2017

I read the first Dresden Files book a while ago, STORM FRONT, by Jim Butcher, and I've been trying to find the next book, FOOL MOON. (without paying full price -- I want to get it used, because that's the only way I can justify buying a book when I have about 90-some sitting in my to-be-read bookrack) I have 2 Dresden books that I found in hardback for the unbelievable price of $2 each (see my previous parenthetical), but doggone it, they're both about 10 books further along in the series. I like to read books in the order they're written, so I can follow the character development.

So ... I cheated a little. SOMETHING BORROWED is actually a short story, in an anthology called MY BIG FAT SUPERNATURAL WEDDING. If it sounds like a movie by a similar title, you're right. Can you guess the themes tying all the stories together? I thought you could!

I'm learning the joys of borrowing books from the library in e-book version. Especially when I can download an anthology, read just the story I want to read -- although I must go back someday and read the stories by other favorite authors -- and then "return" the book within half an hour.

Fun stuff. Harry Dresden standard fare, dealing with the unfriendly supernatural with some uncomfortable, slightly messy/disgusting, "I can't believe this stuff always happens to me" tone of narrative voice that I came to love in the first book. Harry has to pinch hit as best man at the wedding of two werewolf friends. The stepmother of the bride has a bridezilla attitude -- and the bride is missing. Seems there's this really nasty faerie with a grudge against the werewolves, and a wedding is the perfect time to get some revenge. Enter: one wizard, aided by a tough lady cop, and the chorus of "Get me to the church on time" silently playing at the back of his mind.

Saturday, June 24, 2017

Now
available on Wattpad, a trip very far back in my writing roots in fan fiction:
The Phoenix.

FLAME FROM ANOTHER FIRE is another story where
I test-drove characters that would someday appear in my own published books.

The
knock on the door came a few minutes after the shower stopped running. Frazier
smiled at the good timing and got up to answer the door. He dug in his pocket
for his wallet, to tip room service, as he opened the door.

"Hello,
Doctor," Preminger said, his voice more dry than usual, in contrast to the
renewed showers. Two agents with drawn guns stood behind him. "May we come
in?" the man said, when Frazier could only stand and stare open-mouthed at
him.

"Bennu
isn't here." Frazier winced as the bathroom door creaked.

"We
know that." He stepped around the doctor and into the cabin. "My men
saw him come in, but didn't see him leave -- but what they did see was very
interesting."

"Rhea,"
he called, trying to keep his voice steady. "We have company."
Frazier managed a grin when Preminger's eyes blazed with anger.

"What's
going --" Rhea stepped out of the bathroom. She had toweled her hair dry
and was barefoot, dressed in threadbare, gray sweats. "Who are you?"

"Agent
Justin Preminger." He smiled, a hungry look. "I'm very pleased to
meet you -- Mira."

"Who?"
She met Frazier's eyes, then looked over the three agents again. "My name
is Rhea, not Mira."

"Giving
her an alias was a good try." Preminger drew his gun out of his coat. "Why
don't we just forget the charades and get going?"

"The heck I
will." Rhea backed up a step and pivoted on one leg for a roundhouse kick
to the agent who leaped at her. She dodged and rolled out of the grasp of the
other man and managed to swing an arm around and punch Preminger in the back,
just above his kidneys.

Friday, June 23, 2017

Neona knelt on a softly undulating, murky
black surface, surrounded by a swirling cloud of that same odd blue-but-not-blue.
She smiled, looking perfectly at ease. As Keegan continued to shout, struggling
to move forward, reaching for her, Neona tipped her head back, looking up at
the sky, and laughed. The not-blue cloud thickened. A thin stream of sparks
tinged blackish green, the color that Blue had always imagined pain would be,
shot out from the center of that cloud.

Keegan choked and went to his knees. The
sparks became a semi-transparent cable. As it rippled, struggling like a live
thing, it grew more opaque, filling with sparks of that blackish green, and
stretched out... to attach to Keegan.

"Danil, do you see--"

"It's their bond." Danil shifted
his grip on Keegan and pushed him forward, toward the cloud enfolding Neona.
She continued to laugh, her mouth open and shoulders shaking, though now they
couldn't hear her.

Blue saw the cord between the twins growing
thinner, even as the blackish green sparks thickened, turning almost completely
black. She joined in pushing Keegan toward his sister. Maybe if he touched the
cloud surrounding Neona, he could break through to her.

"Neona!" Keegan convulsed as the
cord vanished in an explosion of black sparks that shot through Blue's chest
like a fishing spear.

She grabbed hold of him, even as he twisted and fell, and for
a moment they were almost nose-to-nose. Keegan's eyes widened and she knew he
saw her. Blue sparks wrapped around them, then he convulsed again and vanished
from her grip.

Thursday, June 22, 2017

"How long a delay?" Keegan asked. He glanced at Blue before meeting Loris' gaze.

"No telling until they start mop-up operations."

"Then I say we evacuate." His voice was calm, thin, almost unfeeling.

Blue caught her breath. Not from the shock of hearing him so easily decide to abandon his sister -- because it wasn't easy. The force of the pain and fury that swept through him hit her in the chest with near-physical intensity. She reached for Keegan's hand under the table. His fingers wrapped around hers tight enough to make her bones ache.

"Fifteen of them -- but fifteen Shades controlling them, possibly accessing all their knowledge of Rover weaponry and equipment and tactics." Loris sighed and nodded slowly. "And security codes. Communication codes. Everything they need to infiltrate... but if we abandon them, set up an interdiction so no one can land and give them a way off the planet, maybe keep their creators from coming back for them, what can they do? Both ships have been running full-array sensor scans of the planet's surface and surrounding space, and there is nothing anywhere within hailing distance, nothing hidden underground. The Shades are effectively stranded here, once we leave."

"Wouldn't you?" Keegan's voice said he didn't care. Blue could feel how much he cared, the battle in his heart, just through his tight grip on her hand.

"It makes sense that their next step after taking over our people is to get off this planet, move through the galaxy... but they haven't done anything yet."

"Everything changed when Danil and his team left," Blue said. "They were all resistant to whatever the Shades might have been trying to do to them. It took the arrival of less experienced Rovers, younger minds, and..." She shivered, feeling she had come close to understanding, but unable to put it into words

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

First, you have 2 weeks left to get a free ebook download of the The Blue Lotus Society, Sanctuary, and -- coming out in October -- the fourth and final book, Music in the Night.

book.

WHY would I be giving away a free copy? Well, in hopes you'll write a review, and yeah, the totally mercenary hope you'll want to know what happens next to Odessa and the friends and allies she picks up along the way in this Steampunk adventure, and you'll look for the other books:
If this sounds like a tip of the hat to Phantom of the Opera ... hmm, you might be right.

How do you get the book? Go to Story Cartel, and they'll take it from there.

Second ... my incredible cover artist, Gwen Phifer at Desert Breeze Publishing is up for a Rone Award, presented by In D'Tales magazine, for doing such an incredible job with the cover art for Odessa Fremont.

In fact, Gwen is up for TWO Rone Awards -- for my book, and for my friend, Tamera Kraft's novel, Resurrection of Hope. Doesn't she do incredible work?

leave Mallachrom. Commander Day of the Rover Corps didn't care -- she was the last of their family and her heritage was the Rovers.

When Rover Pilot Neona Creed needed rescuing from creatures that mimicked the Shadows of Mallachrom, Blue's psionic bond with Neona and her twin brother, Keegan, was their best chance of breaking her free. Blue teamed with Keegan and a ship full of Rovers to chase the kidnappers across the galaxy.

The long journey deepened their bonds and changed their friendship to love. If they survived this crisis, they might change the universe.

Monday, June 19, 2017

Another book I found on the discount shelf that struck me as a good resource book. Honestly, what is wrong with these stores that don't realize the great value of these books they mark down to 1/3 their original price? However, I'm not going to complain too much, because yeah, it benefits me! I'm on a tight budget these days ...

FIFTY MACHINES THAT CHANGED THE COURSE OF HISTORY kind of builds on each machine that came before it, moving up through history and the developments in technology. It's fascinating, giving just a taste of what the machine does, a little of the history that led to its invention, something about the inventor, even the personal life, the cultural changes and politics, that sort of thing.

The title page of each chapter offers a lot of info in a glance: designer, manufacturer, a picture of the gizmo, and then the category it belongs in -- industry, agriculture, transport, science, computing, energy, and home. There are quotes from the inventors, a thumbnail sketch of the gizmo in question, and timeline of similar devices. Very useful.

Looms, lathe, engines, early computers, sewing machine, ships, bicycle, telephone, etc. This could be the kind of book you just read for fun, learning bits and pieces that come in handy while watching Jeopardy or trying to get on Jeopardy to compete, or like I do, use it for research in writing, creating new worlds and figuring out what level of technology an alien or fantasy civilization has, that sort of thing. Try it. You might be surprised what you learn.

Saturday, June 17, 2017

Now
available on Wattpad, a trip very far back in my writing roots in fan fiction:
The Phoenix.

FLAME FROM ANOTHER FIRE is another story where
I test-drove characters that would someday appear in my own published books.

Frazier
returned with an odd feeling of warning traveling up his back. He moved quietly
and paused in the doorway. The stranger knelt in front of the fireplace and
pressed both hands against the logs waiting for a match. She frowned, her lips
thinning into a line.

The
logs burst into flames with a muffled thump -- echoed by the heavy, cold jolt
of Frazier's heart.

Anna
burst out in delighted laughter and nearly fell from her chair in her hurry to
get closer to the flames. Rainbows flickered around her fingers, reflected in
the sparks from the fire. The young woman caught her by her arms and gently
pushed her back into the seat.

"Remember
what I told you already? We can't let people see we're special."

Anna
chuckled and looked at her hands, where the rainbows still danced. She wiggled
her fingers and the colors vanished.

"That's
good." The stranger sat back on the hearth and wiped damp strands of hair
out of her face. Suddenly, all her energy left and she looked too pale and thin
to sit up by herself. A wave of pity washed over Frazier. He understood her
situation, knew the strain she felt.

"You're
safe here," Frazier said softly, coming into the room the rest of the way.

"I'm
not sure I know what you mean." She stood and reached for her discarded
coat.

Friday, June 16, 2017

Two days later, Rhianni landed at the spaceport on the
edge of Core, the main city of the colony, in a Rover Corps shuttle. The
official story said she was on medical leave from the Rovers.

It was the truth. Just not the whole truth. Her father
had died ridding a Gen-Tek operation on the other side of the galactic axis. As
a Rover, Rhianni was entitled to one Standard year of rest and recuperation
leave.

That didn't mean the Corps would let her take it.

She accepted this job for her father's sake. He had
lived for years believing he had abandoned Mallachrom when his adopted home
needed him most. Military documentation said otherwise, but as her father would
say, when did bureaucracy override the heart?

"Is it possible to borrow a two‑man sled for the
morning?" Rhianni asked the field security team that met her at the
shuttle hatch.

"No, Captain. The sleds are for official business
only. Sorry," the leader of the team hurried to add, with a nod of
deference to the Rover Corps knife-and-flame emblem, scarlet and black on her
green fatigues jacket.

"Oh. Could I send a message, then?"

"Until you clear security, no private
communications. Verbal?" The leader held out a recording wand.

Rhianni nodded and frowned to fight a grin. She
refused to let these brainless drones know they had aided her strategy. She
nodded for the man to press the recording button.

"To Mistress Shoreel of the Council," she
said, speaking slowly and louder than necessary. "Grandmother, this is
Rhianni. The Colonel -- my Dad -- is dead. I'm home on medical leave. When I've
completed an errand, I would like to visit you. I should be back in Core by
this afternoon."

Silence. The field team barely hid their panic. They
had said no to the granddaughter of a Council member -- forget her status as a
Rover Corps medic.

Thursday, June 15, 2017

Rhianni Day went to sleep with the planet Mallachrom
staring at her from the screen in her cabin on board the Rover ship, Star Sword.

For the last nineteen years,
since the Talroqi invaded the planet of her birth, she had sworn she would
never return. She didn't want to see the devastation caused by the hive
creatures, didn't want to see the mass graves and the memorials erected after
the Talroqi had finally been driven out. Her father, then-Rover Captain Joras
Day, had left Mallachrom reluctantly upon the military's insistence that the colony
world was too far from the battle lines to ever be invaded.

They were wrong, and Rhianni's father had carried a
burden of guilt for nineteen years. Now he was dead, and Rhianni had come home
to pay his debt -- if possible.

So she wasn't surprised when the dreams began almost
before the image of Mallachrom, the rich colors of life dulled by the ship's
sensors, faded from behind her closed eyelids.

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Right now I have over 70K words on the 1st draft of book 1 of the fantasy series that right now has the working title of "Magic to Spare." The first book is called "Magic and Thorns," and details how a princess with a lot of magical potential gets ... sabotaged. Turned into a spoiled brat. She ends up marrying a wicked king, and then spends the second book, currently titled, "The Kindness Curse," being forcibly reformed.

At least, that's the plan.

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NEXT NEWS:
I've posted new fan fiction on Wattpad -- "Flame from Another Fire," part of the Phoenix universe, and another story where I "test drove" an original character and storyline. You might enjoy it.

The plan is to post a new piece of fan fiction every month, and then post a snippet from that story every Saturday that month. Up next: "Gizmos," set in the TV series, "Beauty and the Beast."

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Each week, you'll get the cover art and some excerpts of one of my published books.

When a NEW book is out, the book will be featured 2 weeks, plus the weeks beforehand will be a lead-in featuring other books either from the same series, or similar. For instance, when a new romance book is released, you'll get samples from other romances. When a new Commonwealth book is released, you'll get some samples from previous Commonwealth books.

Rover captain Rhianni Day returns to Mallachrom, burdened with her father's guilt over abandoning the colony decades ago. She intends to find out the truth about the Taken, survivors of an alien invasion, leave, and never return. Mallachrom is no longer home.

Petroc Ash leads the Taken. His responsibilities to the Taken and their secrets are too great to risk, even for Rhianni. Loving her will bind her to Mallachrom forever -- and could kill her.

The quest to solve the mystery of the Talroqi invasion and protect the Taken from destruction pushes them together, shattering secrets and the barriers around their hearts. As time runs out, they take the risk of love, and become a weapon that has waited generations for completion.

Monday, June 12, 2017

The other day I was talking to someone about books, comparing what we'd read, what we liked, making recommendations, and I mentioned Meg Cabot's Mediator series. On a whim, I checked B&N -- because I have a gift card waiting to be spent -- and to my joy I found a new novella and a new novel in the Mediator series. Joy!

Essential points to know: Mediators can see and talk to and fight with the dead. They also have other powers that our heroine, Susannah Simon, learns about as she goes through her various adventures.

She's a Buffy-type tough girl from New York, transplanted to California when her widowed mother remarries. Fish-out-of-water story, with complications and culture shock. The most important element in her story, right from the first, is when she moves into her bedroom in her new home and finds it haunted by a young man who was killed in the 1800s.

I'm not gonna give away their trials and tribulations, vengeful ghosts, psychotic rival Mediators, time travel and other problems, but by the end of the series, they're in love, Jesse is alive again and you'd think -- you'd hope -- the two of them would have earned a happily ever after.

Flash forward to PROPOSAL. Susannah is in college, Jesse is a medical student, there's a really pissed-off ghost who's been falsely accused of murder, and is tearing up the cemetery on a regular basis. The novella is fun, a good segue into the story line after several years' absence. I love Meg Cabot's snarky narrative voice, comments on the stupidity of the TV shows that don't tell the truth of what it's like to be a Mediator-type person, her frustrations of having a secret life, a boyfriend who's too good to be true, and oh yeah, that psychotic other Mediator is threatening to return to her life.

The next full-length Mediator novel is REMEMBRANCE. Will they make it to the altar? Read and find out -- that's what I'm doing. Among other books I have on various devices and in print. Yeah, I read several books at the same time. 1 on my iPhone, 1 on my iPad, 1 print book on my bedside table. Something wrong with that?

Saturday, June 10, 2017

Now
available on Wattpad, a trip very far back in my writing roots in fan fiction:
The Phoenix.

FLAME FROM ANOTHER FIRE is another story where
I test-drove characters that would someday appear in my own published books.

Dr.
Frazier leaned against the window frame and looked out at the thundering
downpour. The other conference attendees milled around the lobby behind him,
complaining about the weather, trying to borrow umbrellas, or settling down to
read or play cards. He didn't mind the storm, actually. He rather enjoyed the
noise and crowds, the protective wall of people around him. The storm meant
some discomfort or inconvenience for Preminger, whom Frazier had seen across
the conference hall two nights before. Maybe the agent would help search for
the missing child and get lost.

The main
doors banged open as more refugees fled the storm. Frazier looked up and froze
at the sight of Bennu helping a little girl across the lobby. Both were
dripping, their faces red from the cold lash of the rain. Bennu helped the
child into the unoccupied fireplace room and Frazier followed. He knew his face
had lost its color and he likely moved like an automaton.

"Stay
right here," Bennu said, helping the child into a chair. "I'll get
some blankets and -- hello, Ward."

"Hello,
Bennu," Frazier said softly.

Bennu
turned around and his smile flashed, bright and warm. "I'd like to stay
and talk but --"

"Preminger
was here two days ago. I don't know if he's still here."

"Take
care of Anna for me?"

"You
can count on it." Frazier clasped hands with Bennu. Half a moment later,
the other man slipped through the door and vanished into the rain.

Monday, June 5, 2017

I'm going to get a lot of use out of this book. The title might make you think of just a catalog of fighter jets and battleships and tanks, but this handy little reference book loaded with detailed drawings as well as photos and discussions of how the different vehicles are/were used. There are "cutaway" views of things like siege engines and chariots, pirate ships and bi-planes.

Divided between land, sea and air, there is some history of warfare, as well as diagrams of battles. The back flap of the cover lists all the machines discussed, ranging from Egypt, Rome, Greece, and Korea, to Italy, Russia, Germany, and the USA. Specs, notable military figures, details of engines, flight patterns. Pretty cool.

I can see role playing gamers using this book, as well as military history buffs and writers of both fantasy and futuristic military novels.

Published by Parragon Books, there were no editors listed. Publication date is 2015. It's a small book, and I bought it at a discount store, but for those who need this kind of information at their fingertips, a book like this could prove to be priceless.

Saturday, June 3, 2017

Now available on Wattpad, a trip very far back in my writing roots in fan fiction: The Phoenix.

You know fandom is really, really strong when there were dozens of fanzines based on a TV show that only have 1 pilot movie and 4 episodes.

FLAME FROM ANOTHER FIRE is another story where I test-drove characters that would someday appear in my own published books.

Enjoy!!

Bennu
stopped to indulge in a few hours of quiet thought in a clearing on a forested
mountainside, despite his longing to hurry back to Satra and Heru. The morning
sun shattered into prisms on the heavy dew, creating a garden of rainbows. Like
a favorite childhood spot back home. He found a dry spot and sat, closing his
eyes and drinking in the peace and overflowing life energy.

He
sensed the mind close by after only a few minutes. A girl-child. Bennu felt her
silent laughter as she walked barefoot through the dew, kicking up drops and
watching them sparkle. He smiled and let the song of her soul join the life
music soothing his mind.

Bennu
drifted until a gust of cold, damp wind made him open his eyes. Gray storm
clouds moved across the sun. Another spring storm, it would attack and pass
quickly.

"All
the colors are gone," a soft voice said from the far side of the clearing.
She was Amer-Asian, six years old, delicate as a fairy. Her name came to him
with a soft touch on her mind --
Anna.

"A
storm is coming. Can I help you get home?" He stood and gathered up his
bag. Another gust made

him shiver.

She
tilted her head back to look up at Bennu. A delighted sparkle lit her eyes. "You
can do it too." Anna held out her hands to a dying beam of sunlight. It
shifted, warping into rainbows around her fingers. Anna giggled. "I can
make pictures, but this is prettier."

"Very
pretty." Bennu touched her mind, seeing the parents who had brought her on
vacation. Deeper, he saw the beginning of her talent less than a year ago. Anna
had looked at her night light and wished she could make the light grow. It had
twisted away from its straight path and did whatever she imagined. No one
believed her stories, and Anna learned to keep her toy to herself. "It's
going to rain any --" He stopped as a
fat drop hit the bridge of his nose. "Any second now. Which way
home?"

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About Me

I'm a freelance editor handling fiction and non-fiction books and short stories as well as business articles. I am multi-published in e and small press. My dreams include winning the World Series in Cleveland, selling to Hollywood, and living off my book royalties.